I'm a stay-at-home mom who doesn't like the stay-at-home part. So my son and I go out almost every day because if I stay-at-home then I have to do things like cook and clean and organize and other housely things that I'm not good at. Luckily I've got my awesome husband who helps me do all those things I don't like and enables me to do all the things I do like.

Monday, December 3, 2012

This is a summary of the third week of Pineapple's life. She was 2 weeks old.

Nursing

This week has been so much better. It helped that we went to the new mom group at the hospital Pineapple was born at. They weighed her and she was 7lbs 10 oz. When she started showing signs of being hungry they did a feeding weight check. They weigh her, had me feed her and then weighed her again. Based on her weight change they can figure out how much breastmilk she's drinking. The LC said her weight gain corresponded with a feeding of about 3oz. She told me that was a good amount for a baby her age and weight. At the end of the meeting we weighed her naked and she was 7lbs 5oz. This gave me a boost.

We haven't done any more supplementing since last week but we did give her a bottle twice when she got really finicky during a feeding. Even with the nipple shield. We've even been able to do a couple of feedings without the nipple shield. Mainly on the right. On the left she really needs to have it in place the whole time.

Waketime

She is spending more time awake these days. There are some times between feedings that she'll be awake most of the time and then only nap for about an hour. I always feel guilty waking her up but she needs to eat every 2.5 hours!

Naps

I guess I don't consider what she's doing now to be real naps. Since her schedule isn't really structured right now she's only sleeping about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The times she chooses not to sleep between feedings are arbitrary so she hasn't even set her schedule yet.

Night Sleep

This is getting better. This week Kevin was back to work so some nights I had to deal with her on my own. Since I'm impossible to wake up it's probably been harder on me. But Kevin still helps when she just won't go back to sleep.

Swaddle

We still double swaddle her at night. No swaddle during the day but she does sleep better when I have her in the Moby.

Weight Gain

At the NMG she was 7lbs 5oz. At her ped appt two days later she was 7lbs 6oz. So up 3oz since last week. Still not in the 5-7oz a week range but at least it's gaining!

Just the Three of Us

This week marked the first time GV, Pineapple and I were all on our own. Kevin's last day off was Monday. Wiki came over Monday night and stayed with us until Wednesday at lunch time. Wednesday afternoon a friend and her son came over to visit. Thursday morning we were on our own until myMom came over to watch GV during Pineapple's ped appt. She left before he got up from nap though so it was just us again. Friday was really the first day that it was just us for the whole day. Although Kevin has been coming home during his lunch hour to help with GV's lunch and putting him down for his nap.

Big Brother

GV is still in love with Pineapple. He asks to hold her everyday at least once. If she's not feeding or trying to fall asleep I try to let him. She doesn't always like it but I think it's good for them. We did pull out his old tummy-time mat for her to start using and he's taken over it. I tried to do tummy-time once and she was not impressed. It might have been because GV kept getting in and dumping toys in.

Conclusion

Things are getting better and I think I can manage the two of them. I'm starting to realize I'm going to have to let go of "our" schedule. Sometimes GV is going to nap late because Pineapple needs feeding. And sometimes Pineapple's going to have to wait to be fed because GV needs a diaper change. Everything will happen when it needs to.

Schedule

Still at 2.5 hours between feedings during the day and 3 hours at night.